Legislative redistricting approved by Pennsylvania Supreme Court

A revised plan to redraw the boundaries of Pennsylvania’s legislative districts won the unanimous approval Wednesday of the state Supreme Court. The justices ruled that the new map is constitutional and can take effect for Pennsylvania’s 203 House districts and 50 Senate districts beginning in the 2014 elections.

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By Record Herald staff and the Associated Press

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Record Herald staff and the Associated Press

Posted May. 9, 2013 at 10:15 AM
Updated May 9, 2013 at 10:20 AM

By Record Herald staff and the Associated Press
Posted May. 9, 2013 at 10:15 AM
Updated May 9, 2013 at 10:20 AM

HARRISBURG — A revised plan to redraw the boundaries of Pennsylvania’s legislative districts won the unanimous approval Wednesday of the state Supreme Court, which rejected renewed appeals by citizen challengers and Democrats that this plan, like the previous one, was driven by political considerations and did not meet constitutional guidelines.
The court’s three Republican and three Democratic justices ruled that the new map is constitutional and can take effect for Pennsylvania’s 203 House districts and 50 Senate districts beginning in the 2014 elections.
What it means here
State Sen. Richard Alloway II and state Reps. Todd Rock, Rob Kauffman and Dan Moul, Republicans who currently represent Franklin County, will all see changes in their district boundaries.
n Alloway’s 33rd Senatorial District losing the western half of Franklin County — the Greencastle-Antrim, Mercersburg, and Fannett-Metal school districts — to the 30th District, currently represented by Sen. John Eichelberger. Alloway also will lose the northern portion of York County.
As a result of redistricting the 33rd District will include the northern and eastern portions of Franklin County, all of Adams County and the borough of Shippensburg and Southampton Township in Cumberland County.
n Rock’s 90th Legislative District will lose the western portion of Franklin County and all of Guilford Township and will pick up Hamilton and Letterkenny townships. Hamilton and Letterkenny townships are being removed from Kauffman’s 89th Legislative District, which gains Guilford Township.
“I am very pleased the Supreme Court finally issued a decision,” Rock said. “Population growth necessitated changes to the boundaries of the 90th District. While I am sad that I will no longer have the opportunity to represent some of the residents I’ve served over the past few years, I’m glad that there will be no changes in representation until after the next election. Until that time, all constituents of the present district can expect to continue to receive the high level of services my offices provide.”
“These kind of changes are always bittersweet,” Kauffman said. “I will no longer represent many folks who I have built relationships and friendships with for years. Adding Guilford Township to the 89th District is exciting, as I will now be officially representing friends and neighbors that I have known for a long time.”
Moul, the bulk of whose 91st Legislative District is in Adams County, will no longer represent a slim sliver of eastern Franklin County in the South Mountain area.
Court ruling
Chief Justice Ronald Castille said in the 59-page opinion that the court’s review of the maps “discloses no overt instances of bizarrely shaped districts” that might show an intent to group certain voter blocs.
The court’s ruling came after it had ruled 4-to-3 last year to reject the map drawn by the five-member commission of top lawmakers — two Democrats and two Republicans — and a former judge, who is a Republican.
In rejecting the Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s original plan, it agreed with challengers that political considerations had unduly split municipalities and produced strangely shaped districts.
As a result, last year’s legislative elections were based on maps drawn in 2001, drawing complaints from Republicans that population shifts meant that voters were no longer fairly represented.
Many of the same challengers made the same complaint about the redrawn map. But the reapportionment commission’s lawyers argued that it reduced the number of split counties and municipalities and created more compact districts.
A House plan drawn up by Republicans moves five seats and was uncontested by Democrats.
The biggest disputed changes in the Senate involve moving the suburban Pittsburgh seat of a jailed former senator, Jane Orie, across the state to the fast growing Pocono Mountains region in northeastern Pennsylvania.
However, the 38th District seat held by Democrat Jim Ferlo of Pittsburgh will shift to include heavily Republican areas north of the city once represented by Orie and raise the prospect of a tough re-election battle in 2014 for the third-term Democrat with Orie’s successor, Sen. Randy Vulakovich.
Meanwhile, central Pennsylvania’s 15th District, held by freshmen Democrat Rob Teplitz, will gain heavily Republican Perry County and lose some Democratic-leaning suburbs that Democrats complain will favor a Republican.